The world of The Dark Crystal coming back to life with new book series

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One of Jim Henson's coolest, and weirdest, projects is getting a new lease on life.

A new children's book series set in the world of Henson's The Dark Crystal is in the works from BOOM! Studios with writer and artist Cory Godbey (Have Courage, Be Kind: the Tales of Cinderella) taking the reins. The project, titled Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal Tales, is a follow-up to his previous project Jim Henson’s Labyrinth Tales.

According to Bleeding Cool, the series of books will delve into the Skeksis-ruled land of Thra. Stories will teach moral lessons, including one where a small bird is hurt in a Skeksis net, so Jen takes it to the Mystics for healing and learns how every act of kindness grows like ripples in a lake.

"The themes woven within The Dark Crystal have never been more important for children or the parents of those children to hear," Godbey said in a statement. "As the UrSkek [the Mystics] tells Jen, '… we all are a part of each other.' For this book, my goal was to create three stories which reflect those ideas and honor the tone of Jim Henson's original groundbreaking film. These stories explore how a single act can ripple outward and how you can never know who it will touch or who it might help."

The original film opened in 1982 to modest success and mixed reviews, though it's become a cult hit in the decades since. The film found Henson branching into the weirder and more ambitious corners of puppetry, showing off some of the studio skills that would eventually come to play in future projects like Farscape.

The hybrid graphic novel/children's book is set to hit shelves in July.